Peek at my week

On Wednesday, I was headed to book club when I saw a familiar car: It was Mom, out driving around. We pulled next to each other in the street. "Watcha doin'?" I asked her. She lifted up a KFC bag and grinned: "I went out to get chicken fried steak!" It may sound strange, but that was sweet, sweet music to my ears: Not two months ago I was praying that she could soon enjoy one of her favorite meals.

Book club was a crazy, loud, fun night. It's always good to hang out with the girls:












From left, Suzanne, Chris, hostess Jaime and Denise

I loved our July read, "The Center of Everything" by Kansas author Laura Moriarty. The coming-of-age novel was conversational and breezy, yet had a level of complexity to it that made me remember my awkward tween years. (Honestly: The fact that I read it on vacation in Padre had very little to do with my positive review of the book. It did make the experience of reading it that much better, though!) The plot was set in Kansas (albeit in a fictional town) and mentioned Wichita, KU (Rock Chalk!), Boeing, Topeka and other Sunflower State staples. And I love this excerpt:

"I like living in Kansas, not just because of the wheat, but because it's right in the center. If you look at a map of the world, the United States is usually right in the middle, and Kansas is in the middle of that. So right here where we are, maybe this very stretch of highway we are driving on, is the exact center of the whole world, what everything else spirals out from."

This morning was exceptionally foggy. Brian woke me up to come outside and see how the dew showcased the intricate spiderwebs around our back deck. (Spiderwebs used to freak me out until I learned that spiders eat other bugs I hate more. Now I welcome them in my yard. Thanks, Charlotte! You do good work.)